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 July at Sunset Beach!
The vacationers are here and so is the sun! The warm sand, warm water and warm breezes naturally give a warm welcome to all. There are many fun activities to enjoy at Sunset Beach in July and we would like to share some of the Free Favorite ones with you.
4th of July is a festive time at Sunset Beach and it can be heard almost every night while a few sneak in their own personal fireworks display. The "major" displays of fireworks have traditionally been held in downtown Wilmington, Southport (the official home of the NC 4th of July festivities) and in Cherry Grove, SC. We have gotten the opportunity to experience them all, but lately we are not big fans of the traffic we battle to get home. So, the past couple years we stay on the island, sit comfortably on the roof deck and see the displays all around. This year we are lucky that Calabash is planning a 4th of July Fireworks celebration on Friday, July 3rd at 7:00pm. The ad says to bring a lawn chair, and enjoy live entertainment & Fireworks. Should be fun!
Like music? Sunset Beach now has the Party in the Yard at the Dock Street Properties every Wednesday night for the summer. Bring a chair and enjoy live entertainment & the shops will be open late, too. Ocean Isle Beach has live music on Friday nights from 6:30-8:00pm near the museum. Remember to take your lawn chair there, too.
The Turtle Watch Program at Sunset Beach has a program every Sunday night at 7pm that is informative and fun. The volunteers with the Turtle Program teach all about the turtles, eggs, hatchings and teach the kids a cute dance. I posted a photo above and everytime we go, we crack up. They are having "Turtle Day" on July 8th from 10-2:30pm at Ocean Isle Beach. Go to their website at www.sunsetbeachturtles.org for more info. Hopefully soon we'll see some new turtles born at Sunset Beach, which is an amazing sight.
Some inexpensive activities include Ingram Planetarium at Sunset Beach, the Ocean Isle Beach Museum, Coastal Cinemas Theater in Shallotte (also have free movies on Tues & Thurs at 10am), and local miniature golf, too.
There are so many things to do here at Sunset Beach...just get here and have fun. We'd love to hear about some of your favorites, so email us at sbwebcam@yahoo.com. We'd also love to advertise your business and with over 20,000 visitors every month to the website, it's fantastic exposure!
Schools Out!!!
Written by Monica- 13 year old Sunset Beach island resident
and all-around incredible daughter!
School is finally out!! I couldn’t be happier. No more homework, no more teachers, no more anything!!! I can do whatever I want, whenever I want; well, as long as I don’t disobey my parents. When summer break comes around, the island comes alive! The flowers come out, the animals come out, and the people come in. The many businesses and homes on Sunset beach have come to life. Flowers are being planted and grown everywhere. The squirrels are running around and the deer are here and hungry. Warning! If your flowers aren’t protected, they will be eaten. The flowers make the island shine with colors.
People are starting to come from all over to see our beautiful island. Saturdays are our “Check In/Check Out” days for renters and traffic gets heavy in the afternoon. My parents try not to leave the island on Saturdays and always grocery shop before the weekend! During the week the line going off the island doesn’t get all that bad until everyone starts leaving around 5pm and stays that way until dinner traffic clears. Don’t forget, the Bridge opens on the hour, every hour for boat traffic and takes about 15 minutes. But soon enough (too soon for me) that problem will be solved. The bridge construction is coming along great! It should be up and running by December of 2010. The construction workers are working hard. Sometimes it feels like they never leave. The columns are going up fast. They’ve gotten far enough to where they are working on the third giant column in the water. The drilling is done!! All the massive drills have left for good and they were cool, too.
The beach is starting to get extremely active. Every way you look, there are beach loving people, umbrellas, radios, beach chairs, and sand toys. The water is getting warm and so is the sand. All the radios are entertaining to listen to. When people start turning it up and listening to different music it gets kinda weird. All the kids playing in the water can be especially fun to watch. They dance & jump & dive through waves and are guaranteed to make you laugh. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you will see dolphins. Last summer, 2 or 3 of them swam right up to the pier. Everyone got out of the water and we watched them swim between the poles of the pier. The birds flying over your head waiting to be fed and the crabs popping out of their holes when you’re not looking make great pictures. Occasionally, you will see jellyfish or skates. The skates I’ve seen look exactly like a stingray but were smaller and brown. They might scare you (they scared me out of the water the first time I saw them) but they didn’t hurt me. Like any sea creature, just don’t mess with them and they won’t mess with you!
The rental houses are getting filled and so is The Sunset Inn. People are relaxing and taking advantage of the summer vacation. There is a big vacant lot beside the Inn that is now home to few Killdeer birds and their new babies. They are adorable. They are extremely small and make their nest on the ground. To learn more about our amazing island, come and see it all for yourself. I guarantee that you will have a blast.
Side note regarding traffic: As of June 11, according to the Town of Sunset Beach, Barnhill Const. will be closing Shoreline Drive East from Azalea Circle to HWY 179 near Bill’s Seafood. The closing will be within the next several weeks and will take approx. 6 weeks to complete. Traffic will be routed to Park Road.
Posted At : May 12, 2009 9:44 AM
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Spring Fever
Spring Fever
OK, it’s official. We’ve got it and it is spreading quickly…”Spring Fever.” I can’t get enough of this gorgeous weather we are blessed with at Sunset Beach. The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing and the 80 degree temps have been perfect for days! It makes everything more enjoyable including Mother’s Day. I hope all the moms, step-moms, grandmas and women who love children enjoyed the day Sunday.
Many of our out-of-town friends and homeowners were concerned, as well as we were, about the Myrtle Beach fires. The news did a great job covering it, and at last record I read that over 19,600 acres burned & more than 70 homes were destroyed. Julie with Splash Studio Photography has graciously given me permission to post her amazing photos. There are still relief funds that are thankful for any donation to help the victims in the aftermath of the fire. Here at Sunset Beach we could see the ominous cloud of smoke that quickly gave way to ashes scattered on the ground and clinging to vehicles. Living so close to Myrtle Beach makes us feel like neighbors and our local fire departments were quick to respond. I have to believe that the happy roar of the Harley Davidson’s this week will give a boost to the Myrtle Beach economy and their spirits.
I have to give a “shout-out” to the local “Bridge Pizza-n-Grill” that is now under new management/ownership. The mini-golf is better, the atmosphere is casual, the staff is excellent and the food is fabulous. If you want to grab a cold beverage and tasty hot food without dressing up, this is the spot for you. They will be happy to deliver on the island as well, which is so handy! Give them a try next time you visit.
Last but not least, we’d like to introduce you to our new logo. She’s our webcam turtle and her name is “Sandy Toosh.” When you browse the website, click on Sandy at anytime and you will be re-directed back to the main page of the webcam. We have big plans for the webcam, which include a beach cam, so keep checking us out. If you’d like to subscribe, we promise not to share your info with anyone.
Come visit Sunset Beach as soon as you can and stay as long as you’d like before spring fever becomes a summer roast!
Easter Break Bridge Update
Just when I forgot what it felt like to wait in a line, Easter Break began. Smiling vacationers, eager to “Spring Clean” homeowners, and all you “snowbirds” briefly flying south have been a pleasant site on Sunset Beach these past few weeks. Island homes were brightly lit, bicycling kids nearly getting hit and the Easter Sunrise Service was once again a huge hit. If you haven’t been here in awhile, the progress of the bridge construction is obviously stunning. I am posting new photos, however, the view in person is much more impressive. The English Construction crew doesn’t let up and their work ethic is enviable.
If you didn’t get the opportunity to relax and enjoy time spent at Sunset Beach this week, well join the club. Living at Sunset Beach is dreamy, but I’m not among the retired yet and like many of you, I had to work this week. The good news for all of us is that the salty air and the ocean water will only get warmer and the luxurious sand patiently awaits our arrival for a relaxing day at Sunset Beach. The first chance you get, a day, a week, or a weekday, come stay at Sunset Beach where Island Businesses are ready to start the summer and see you smile!
Can you guess when and where on Sunset Beach this photo was taken of the two young boys?
The old photo of the bridge we posted was taken in 1969! Thank you for the emails replying to the bridge photo and we look forward to your replies on this one. I think you'll be amazed!
Rain, Rain, Go Away…
Instead of falling into a dark, depressing funk because of the rainy, foggy, cool weather we’ve been having, I daydream over some photos I took on Sunday, March 8th. The day started out sunny and warmer than expected, so after church we decided it was time for the inaugural spring boat ride! It can be 50 degrees and windy, but when a boat ride is offered and the sun is shining, I’m there. Thankfully it was gorgeous and with hardly any boats on the ICW, we were able to “let her fly.” We spent most of last summer unable to enjoy the boat due to “unidentified” repairs that were finally complete at the end of August…of course. Our girls, like me can’t resist a boat ride either, so it was a treat for the whole family when we got to see surprise guests that day. The goats were out in the sun and the dolphins, too. We made every animal sound known to man at the goats while they looked at us with tilted heads. Three dolphins were so close we could almost touch them. We saw some friends fishing in their boat, and of course a short race quickly pursued. Anytime I want to see a grown man act like a small boy, get 2 boats in the water and there you go. What a ride! It was a little cool, but the sun & the breeze rejuvenated my soul with a renewed anticipation of spring. Enjoy the photos and do some-kind-of warm weather dance with me to welcome the new season ahead.
How Do You Build A Bridge?
Being an island resident and loving our old swing bridge, my family & I had resisted the entire thought of a new high rise bridge coming to Sunset Beach. Even to the point that our kids would grumble at the site when the new construction started. The familiar “ka-klump” sound as you cross over the nostalgic structure still tugs at my heart strings and carries me home to a sense of peace. Until… “Look at that! How do they do that?” is excitedly yelled from a child breaking the silence & jolting my head back to reality. Somewhere along the construction journey, we all became mesmerized by the overwhelming process. We decided it was time to ask the simple questions.
Dillon Frazier, Project Manager with English Construction Co, Inc. (a century old family owned business from Va.) was gracious enough to answer my simple questions. The daunting task involves over 75 crew members on any given day supervised by Mark Jenkins along with 2 to 3 Project Managers overseeing the project. This die-hard crew works in EVERY weather condition from 7am till 5:30pm along with every other Saturday. We see these guys sun-up to sun-down in some nasty conditions. The round concrete columns you’ve seen in the photos require approx. 85 yards of concrete and run anywhere from 30-100 feet deep in the ground. The newest column being set now, requires approximately 250 yards of concrete and will be oblong shaped. There will be 5 of these made for support of the 130-160 foot span over the water. The crew is required to do much of their work on ground level, which usually means a wait for low tide while working in the water. Dillon explained the time constraint they are under now to have the footings for the columns in place prior to April due to a Moratorium enforced in our waterways. The moratorium does not allow setting the pilings or footings in the water April through September so as to not interfere with wildlife & aquatic breeding season. Basically to “set” a footing, a permanent sleeve is set about 30 feet in the ground. This sleeve is drilled out 30-100 feet deep and a substance called “slurry” is poured in. The slurry fills the void, provides resistance for the sidewalls of the footings and assists in the drilling process. Next, a coated reinforcement bar (Re-bar) is set in place within the sleeve & slurry. Concrete is then poured in forcing the slurry to the top which is then siphoned off. Once the concrete dries, the tall Re-bar for the column is attached to the footing and a form is put around the Re-bar which holds the concrete in place until is dries. It is quite something to see when a crew member is at the very top of these structures. I literally hold my breath! The girders are the pieces that span from one column to another column. A wooden form is then built over the girders where the concrete is poured to form the new road of the bridge. This is process is called “Poured in Place” and provides accurate coverage of the area. According to Dillon, the side rails of the bridge will be about 3 feet high and the maximum height of the bridge will be 80 feet off the water. English Construction crew is on schedule and should complete the process by December, 2010. They have also been contracted to dispose of the stationary portions of our old beloved bridge. The state of North Carolina will take the floating section of the bridge. We are curious about their plans, but we don’t have any answers yet. Hopefully I was able to break this information down for those of you, like myself, who don’t work in the bridge building business.
Even though the regretful progress inches closer to the death of our little one lane bridge, viewing the process to build the new bridge has been quite amazing. We are thankful for Dillon and to all the tireless crew members striving to make our new bridge safe. I hereby pledge not to let my sadness make me bitter to change.
Sunset Beach got snow Wednesday morning, Feb 4th! I was thrilled that we got to chance to experience the rare occurrence of snow at the beach. Althought it started falling around 7:30 am and stopped around 10 am, we didn't get much accumulation. I was shocked to even see it "stick," and the kids flipped out! They made snowballs and pitiful little snowmen, and I actually made some snow cream that was better than I remembered. Amazingly, school was not canceled, but we played some morning hookey and enjoyed their 3rd snow day ever at Sunset Beach. So now that we got a little snow, I'm ready for summer. Bring on the heat!!
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